


The Dinosaur Game

by KeJae



Category: White Collar
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:09:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28234455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeJae/pseuds/KeJae
Summary: It was all inspired by a high school prank, but it turned into an office game to be remembered.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	1. Game, Set

******* 

The weather outside was cold and it was getting dark early. It wasn’t a pleasant part of spring, and it was boring, absolutely boring. 

Lounging around the FBI office, the team was struggling to get up the gumption to work their caseloads. Mortgage Fraud and cold cases weren’t enough to keep their attention and they were struggling to get through the day. 

Trying to do his work, Jones was having a difficult time keeping his focus just as surely as the others were. 

“Do you know, when I was in high school, my classmates decided to pull a prank on the principal. The instigators pulled money and purchased a large toy dinosaur.” Diana started sharing the story at random as a fond memory. What inspired her was unknown to the others. 

“What did they do with it?” Neal asked as he lowered his pen. 

Jones snorted softly, he was only a little surprised that their residing consulting informant was interested in a prank. The man was prone to pull little jokes all of the time and was especially prone to stealing their boss’s wallet. 

Beaming, Diana enjoyed recounting the story, “It was made known that it would be hidden somewhere, but not where. The principal looked, but I didn’t hear of him finding it until years after we’d graduated.” 

Leaving them with the cliffhanger to increase interest, Diana waited for a beat before she finished at Price’s prompting. 

“It was hidden in the ceiling above the tiles over his desk,” clearly, Diana loved how clever her classmates had been by placing it in a place the principal wasn’t likely to look. 

Mulling on that, Jones also appreciated the cleverness of the prank. Obviously, the principal had either been prompted by another cause or had been bothered by the unknown location of the dinosaur enough to eventually resort to searching such unexpected locations such as the ceiling above his desk. 

“That is great,” Neal also approved of the genius behind the students’ prank. 

The conversation dissipated slowly as the subject was worked out. 

However, after a while, Jones noticed that Neal seemed to be musing on something and casting glances at Diana. 

Looking at his partner, Jones noticed that Diana was also smiling as she worked. 

Something was brewing betwixt them, but Jones didn’t know what had them amused. 

******* 

As the day ended, Jones was still trying to finish a little more of his workload to reduce his tasks for the next day. Based on how Diana and Neal remained at their desks working on their own piles, Jones initially thought they had the same intent. 

Then he learned what they were really doing when the two closed their desks down right after the bosses left and the office was cleared off all but the three of them. 

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Diana eagerly applied of Neal as she got up and moved to his desk. 

Grinning deviously, Neal leaned forward towards her, “I am if you’re thinking what I’m thinking. What are you thinking?” 

“I’m thinking we should get a dinosaur and hide it in the tiles above Peter’s desk,” Diana admitted to her idea, which was obviously inspired by her high school prank. 

Jones let them plot, but he smiled to himself as he listened. 

“Okay, we’re not exactly thinking the same thing. I was thinking that we should buy several little ones, one for everyone on the team, or at least, those who are interested in participating. People could place their initials on the dinosaurs before hiding them about the White Collar area spanning the office and the backrooms on the floor. Then, as we go about our days, we can be on the lookout for the little things.” Neal elaborated a more complicated idea to make a game of it. 

“Oh, and then we can re-hide the ones we find to keep the game going!” Diana was quickly on board and furthered the idea. 

Intrigued, Jones had to admit that it sounded like fun, but he remained out of the initial planning, the resident pranksters were up to a new shenanigan. 

Chuckling, he remembered a few of their past highjinks. 

One had been the printing of a hundred little images of Peter’s face that were then taped around the office so that he could ‘watch’ everyone for the day. The challenge was for the team to find as many as possible by the end of the day, but they were still being found a few days after the fact. 

Another was when there had been a meeting and someone had taken the opportunity to fill Cruz’s jacket sleeve with shredded paper stuffed so tightly she didn’t initially notice it until she went to put it on. Then she’d noticed the little trail of paper showing her trip from her desk to the elevator door. Returning to the office, she’d had to empty her sleeve over the trash while grumbling about who might be the culprit. 

Personally, Jones’ money was on Neal. Cruz wasn’t enthused about his presence on the team, so it was a mild way to yank her chain. 

There was one that he’d missed the results of that hadn’t been done by Neal and/or Diana, but had probably been inspired by them. Franklin had taken a giant rubber band and put it around Peter’s doorknob over to Hughes’ one evening after Hughes had gone home. Did it stretch when Peter left or did it snap from the strain? Jones had no idea and no one had ever told him so it was a mystery. 

His favorite had been when they’d gotten ridiculous costumes for Peter and Hughes. 

The clever duo had convinced Peter they were purchasing a unicorn costume for Hughes and enlisted his help. However, they’d enlisted Hughes in the aide of getting a chicken costume for Peter. Both bosses had been amused and ultimately willing to assist in the prank since it was for April Fool’s Day. 

Then when the day had occurred, the agents were surprised to both receive gifts when Diana and Neal took Peter into Hughes’ office for the giving of the gifts. Diana had taken a video of the event for others to see since not everyone was in the office yet. 

When Jones had arrived that morning, Hughes was sitting amicably working away at his desk… wearing a full unicorn costume! Peter had briefly worn the entire chicken costume, but he was down to only wearing the head covering so he pulled the string to move the flaps above his ears good-naturedly and waved when Jones had glanced up at him. 

Zoning back into the conversation, Jones noticed that Neal and Diana had further elaborated their current prank. They were going to hide a special dinosaur and the finder would get some kind of ridiculous trophy. 

Shaking his head, Jones knew they were going to make their boredom go away, but how the bosses would react… that was yet to be seen. 

Calling it a night, Neal and Diana decided to go and shop for the tools of their game. They’d conspire later to make their final decisions. 

Left in peace, Jones was glad he’d remained to make the effort to get his work done. It sounded like he’d have a different reason to struggle to keep his focus soon and he wanted to get in on the fun if he could. 

******* 

A few days past, but Jones picked up on various pieces of what Diana and Neal were planning. 

First, they’d purchased a collection of little plastic dinosaurs. However, there weren’t enough for the entire team, so they’d also purchased some similar dragons. 

Second, one of the toys was a golden unicorn and it was to be the special challenge, the one that searchers would use to compete for the trophy. 

Third, the ridiculous trophy that his teammates were very proud of was a plush mount of a unicorn head. 

Shaking his head, Jones didn’t think most of the team would be enthusiastic about the unicorn head, he wasn’t fond of unicorns, but then, that didn’t mean that someone else wouldn’t appreciate it. 

******* 

The day that the challenge officially began, the golden unicorn had been hidden and agents randomly stopped by Neal’s desk for dinosaurs or Diana’s for dragons before putting their initials on them. 

Most hung onto their little creatures and pondered exactly where to hide them: in plain sight or hidden, high or low, easy or hard. 

Slowly, the little creatures disappeared from desks and were hidden about in unknown locations and the game was on. 

******* 

Their initial finds were easy enough. 

One had been found on the back of the team television in the conference room. 

A second was sitting on a team plaque in plain sight. 

The third was on the window ledge behind the blinds. 

A fourth was inside the tissues of an agent’s desk. 

They were well and truly all over the place! 

******* 

When the game had begun, Hughes had watched the goings-on to gauge how to react, but it was easy to see the change in the team so he hadn’t restricted the playing of the game. The mood of the team had dramatically improved and their closer rating had increased. 

In fact, he was actually one of the most avid searchers once his initial analysis was done. 

Jones had never seen Hughes out of his office so much as he did once the hidden dinosaur game had begun. 

Even Peter was a frequenter of Diana’s desk trying to see if he could get any clues out of her as to where the golden unicorn had been hidden. 

The bosses even worked together at times to methodically work through the break area, records area, and they’d taken strolls through the back rooms likely doing general searches there too. 

Everyone had resorted to using their breaks and lunches as an opportunity to walk about and search for the elusive little toys. 

When dinosaurs and dragons were found, they were placed on desk computers as trophies until a new location could be chosen to hide them. 

Sometimes, the group enjoyed tracing who had hidden what dinosaur or dragon where based on the initials placed on them. 

Those who had hidden well enjoyed seeing others found, and then bragging on how good their choice was as it remained hidden. The seekers who knew there was a difficult one outstanding were proud of themselves when they successfully found them and updated the hider of their success. 

Around and around, the toys were found, hidden, found again, and hidden again. However, the golden unicorn remained elusive. 


	2. Match!

*******

Growing more and more intrigued, Peter and Hughes continued to be the most diligent in their search for the golden unicorn. 

Surprisingly, it was Hughes who proudly placed the golden unicorn on his computer when it had been found until he was able to claim his hard-earned trophy.

Jones had been on vacation so he hadn’t known who had won until he happened to see the trophy proudly hung on Hughes’ wall in between his certificates amongst his personal effects.

Amused, Jones shook his head as he laughed. 

The trophy mount did not fit amongst the more serious decorations of Hughes’ office which made it all the more comical to see.

Asking where the golden unicorn had been hidden, Jones finally got the answer from Diana.

“It was taped to the top of a door in the back hallway for an unused storage room. Since it was out of the way and where no one needs to go, no one seemed to have thought about it. If anyone did, they didn’t think of that or look high enough to see it.” Diana was proud that she had come up with such a simple place that had taken so long to be found.

“I have a few that I’ve hidden that no one has found yet,” Neal smiled from his seat. 

Rolling his eyes, Jones knew Diana would be clever to utilize the simple for her hiding. However, whatever complex method Neal had used, no one had discerned it yet.

“Why don’t you write down a list of the initials you’ve hidden?” Jones challenged Neal. 

If they knew that they’d found his, it might encourage them to look harder.

Shrugging, Neal pulled out a piece of paper and listed the initials that he’d hidden on it. Then he got up and pinned it on the notice board in the break area.

Frowning, Jones had slightly hoped that he’d have to check on the hiding spots to collect the initials, and then he might get caught going about it. However, it wasn’t surprising that Neal would be cleverer than that.

“Not what you hoped for is it?” Neal smirked over at him.

Rolling his eyes, Jones knew Neal would catch on, but it had at least been a shot. Getting an idea, Jones had another shot to try, “How about a hint, on one of them?”

Deciding to give in, Neal leaned back in his chair and thought, and then he smirked again. “I think Peter will have the best odds of finding one.”

Going into thinking mode, Jones could hear the thinking caps going on the rest of the team as they also tried to figure out where that would be.

Neal just went back to work, but the smirk he sported was a strong indicator that he was enjoying messing with them.

“What has the smoke brewing up down here?” Peter asked as he walked by.

Looking speculatively up at him, Jones wondered what would make it so that Peter would be the most likely person who could find it. “Neal gave us a clue, one of the dinosaurs or dragons is hidden somewhere where you’re most likely to find it.”

Cocking his head speculatively, Peter looked over at Neal. “I think I know something of what he means,” Peter seemed to get something of it without revealing what he’d thought up.

“We’ll see,” Neal accepted the challenge of a battle of wits.

Although he’d take his shot, Jones knew he’d be more likely to be an observer watching as Peter and Neal battled it out.

Continuing on his way, Peter called over his shoulder, “We will, but I bet I’ll find it.”

“I’ll see that when I find the dinosaur on my computer,” Neal called after him.

Peter just waved acknowledgment through the glass before he entered the elevator.

“Diana hasn’t found mine,” Hughes contributed to the conversation as he walked by, following Peter to a meeting.

Intrigued, Diana started poking around her desk but looked after Hughes as he also got on the elevator. She seemed to be questioning whether or not he meant it being hid on her desk, or somewhere else.

Getting up, she took off to the back hallway, Jones assumed to check the same door she’d hidden the golden unicorn on before, but she returned frustrated.

Taking another check around her desk, she didn’t find anything, so she resumed her work. The puzzle would clearly take a while to solve and she had things to do.

Inspired by her check, Jones glanced up at Peter’s office. Maybe Neal had hidden the dinosaur on his desk? No one else would dare go snoop through his things so it was safe to assume that Peter would be the one to find it.

Unwilling to risk that, Jones figured he’d either have to ask for Peter’s permission when he got back or just wait for him to find it and announce where it had been.

Returning to work, the team continued to progress through their caseload for the day, but they also still had their minds mulling on the puzzles that had been presented by their bosses.

*******

The next week the team arrived to find a dinosaur sitting on Neal’s computer. 

Peter was studiously working up in his office.

Neal had a chagrined expression as he reached out to touch the dinosaur before looking up at Peter who smiled down at him.

Getting up, Peter walked out onto the landing and leaned on the railing.

“So, what is this, this is a new challenge, so 1-0 your favor?” Neal smiled up at him.

Nodding, Peter congratulated him. “It was a clever idea to put it on the ceiling tile above my desk, but I’ve heard about what inspired this game. That was risky, repeating the idea.”

“Now what, are you going to hide this and see if I can find it?” Neal held it up for him before walking over and tossing it up.

Catching it and turning the little dinosaur in his fingers, Peter pretended to evaluate it. “Oh, I’ve already hidden one around your desk. We’ll see if we can’t make it 2-0.” He then caught the little toy into his hand and smiled, “Perhaps this one will make it 3-0?”

“You always tell me not to get cocky, you shouldn’t either,” Neal called up as Peter beamed from above before turning and going back into his office.

Turning, Neal evaluated his desk pondering where Peter might have hidden the little dinosaur. “This shouldn’t be too difficult; it’s not like his office where there are a lot more possibilities. I only have a desk.”

“Good luck, I haven’t been able to find where Hughes’ hid one on me. Just a desk, can still  be difficult,” Diana commented from where she was watching the exchange.

Back at his desk, Neal did a preliminary search through the initial ideas he’d come up with, but he didn’t seem to find the dinosaur. Then he reacted much as Diana had. He went back to work, but his mind was mulling on where Peter might have hidden the dinosaur.

*******

Another week passed and Diana went to use her lotion on her desk. Shifting it, she was surprised to notice something inside of it.

Paying more attention as she lifted it up and started looking at various angles, Jones wondered what had her attention.

“He didn’t…” Diana screwed the lid off and started using the tube to poke around in the lotion. “He did!”

“Who did what?” Jones lowered his file and gave up altogether for the moment. 

“Hughes, I just found where he hid the dinosaur on my desk. It’s in my lotion! Now I’m not sure how to get it out without making a huge mess and wasting some of the lotion.” She was grumbling as she tried to use the tube to maneuver the dinosaur towards the top so that it would be easier to retrieve. 

When Hughes happened past on his way to a meeting, Diana glared at him while holding her lotion up, but Hughes just chuckled and waved without missing a beat.

Getting up and leaving with the lotion, Jones thought she was taking it to the restroom where it would be easier to clean up if she made a mess.

Appreciating how clever it was, Jones also understood how annoying it would be to have such a messy retrieval job. 

They’d all done various tasks searching suspect’s residences for evidence, and people were sometimes more inclined to make it hard or messy if they thought it would reduce the odds of discovery. 

Inspired, Jones wondered how many of the hidden locations were based on past  cases?

Glancing over at Neal’s desk, Neal realized that Hughes had used lotion on Diana, but Neal didn’t have any on his desk. However, he did have the statue, a tie drawer, his catapult, and general desk supplies. 

The tie drawer was the more unique part of that, so Jones got up and moved beside Neal.

“What? Do you need a tie?” Neal looked at him puzzled.

“No, but I’m curious if Peter might have hidden a dinosaur in here,” Jones answered as he pulled the rack up and out to start checking through them.

Watching him, Neal observed his efforts as he ran his hand over the ties, checked the rack itself, and then checked the drawer over. 

Having failed to find anything, Jones had to concede defeat and put the ties away.

“I already checked that,” Neal commented while looking calmly at Jones.

Frowning, Jones didn’t appreciate being informed after his extensive search. “Why?”

Shrugging, Neal replied, “Maybe I missed something, maybe someone else hid something in there since, or maybe I just enjoyed watching you search to alleviate your own curiosity.”

Frustrated, Jones got up and went back to his desk, “Thanks.” 

“You’re welcome,” Neal grinned before going back to his work.

Shaking his head, Jones went back to work. His inspiration hadn’t panned out, but he might come up with the solution another day.

*******

As time went on, the enthusiasm in the game seemed to be dwindling. No one was hunting as much, and no one was finding them much either.

It had been a while since Jones had seen a small dinosaur or dragon, but as he was standing in the break area getting his coffee, his eyes wandered around the space anyway.

Absently reaching into the box, he pulled out some sugar packets and began opening them up and pouring them into his cup. Continuing to look around, he tried to spot any as he stirred his drink before taking a sip. 

The pot of coffee was particularly bad, so he turned for another packet of sugar only to realize that a little dinosaur head was peeking out from the back of the box exposed by the removal of the packets.

Picking it up, Jones dropped it in his pocket. He’d put it on his computer until he decided on where to put it.

Having made the coffee tolerable, Jones hauled it back to his desk, set it down, and pulled the little dinosaur out of his pocket to sit it on the computer monitor.

“You found one?” Diana commented as she sat in her seat.

“Yeah, it was in the sugar box behind the packets,” Jones commented. “I haven’t seen any in quite a while.” He added, he’d noticed that they seemed to be disappearing. 

Exchanging smiles, Neal and Diana seemed to know why.

“We’ve been slipping them away somewhere with Peter’s help,” Diana added.

“I told you we didn’t need Peter’s help, I could have handled his lock on my own,” Neal elaborated but didn’t specify.

Looking between them, Jones didn’t understand where they were referencing, but then it dawned on him, “Hughes’ office?”

Tossing her head and sauntering over to his desk so that no one else would hear, Diana admitted, “We’ve been taping them to the bottom of Hughes’ desk. He’s the most avid hunter, but he hasn’t thought to look there. That’s where he’d find the motherload of tiny dinosaurs and dragons.”

Chuckling, Jones hadn’t even considered that. Then he remembered that Neal hadn’t mentioned finding the one Peter had hid around his desk. “Have you considered checking the bottom of your desk?”

“ Yes, and there was nothing there,” Neal sighed. 

“Apparently it hasn’t inspired you to find the right location either?” Jones was curious.

“No, Peter still has us at 2-0,” Neal rolled his eyes as he toyed with his pen.

“Come on Neal, we have a case,” Peter called as he came down and tagged Neal to go with him.

Getting up, Neal noticed that his shoe had come untied, so he knelt down to tie it. 

When he didn’t come back up directly, Jones wondered why he remained knelt down on the floor. Leaning back in his chair to better see what Neal was doing, Jones noticed that he was messing with something on the bottom of his chair.

Looking to Peter, he was grinning as he stood in the walkway observing Neal.

“Make that 1-1,” Neal said as he stood up and held the little dinosaur in his fingers before beaming at Peter.

“Congratulations, it just took you three weeks to find it. Now, come on, we have a case to get to.” Peter jibed as Neal put the little dinosaur on his computer screen, grabbed his jacket and hat, and moved to follow him out the door.

“Well, that is a collection of mysteries solved,” Jones smiled to know the resolution to where the little buggers were getting off to.

Diana told him to keep the secret to himself, “We don’t want to spoil the secret, and it’s only good if it’s found on accident.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t say anything. But, tell me how it goes if I miss it,” Jones promised and requested. He’d already managed to miss a number of their jokes and pranks due to work.

“Will do,” Diana agreed.

As the team settled in to work, it got quiet again.

*******

Although the team still found the occasional dragon or dinosaur, their workload soon increased and the game dwindled into the background. 

However, it was still a fond memory for Jones and he knew many of the team felt the same. The game had done a lot to increase team morale and overall camaraderie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story was originally posted as 'Game, Set,' but that was the chapter title, so it has been corrected to 'The Dinosaur Game.'
> 
> Thank you, everyone, for reading, reviewing/commenting, following, choosing to favorite, and leaving kudos :D
> 
> End Note: This story was inspired by a variety of pranks and jokes that were played at work, cumulatively in the last few years as the stress levels have been higher. To my knowledge, they were done by a mixture of two supervisors, our manager, an onsite corporate associate, and two coworkers. I don't know who did the sleeve prank, I missed the conclusion of the rubber band too, and I made up various parts of the other things for the parts that I wasn't present for or to better work them into the White Collar environment. Although there were various things done for morale and such, these are some of my fondest memories of the camaraderie and people that I worked with. So, this is to honor them, the people that I will miss.


End file.
